I woke up.
Light was shining through the dirty windows of Castle Black.
I reached for Audelia's warm body but I found nothing. My fingers were grasping air. I opened my eyes carefully, looking around. But I didn't find my beloved.
Did I do something wrong? Did she rethink her decision?
I was overthinking this, for all I knew she just went to spend time with her siblings. She hasn't seen them in forever.
I quickly got dressed. Well... as quickly as you can with one hand.
Then I walked out of the room, towards the cafeteria area. There weren't many people around, but the ones that were here, kept sending me dirty looks.
Lannisters aren't very popular in this part of the world.
But I didn't mind. As long as Audelia was next to me, I didn't care about anything else.
I saw Bronn exiting his room, and also heading for the cafeteria.
"How's the North treating you so far?", he asked jokingly.
"Well, I'm still alive. More than I hoped for, so I guess it's going well", I replied. "How about you?".
"It is going swimmingly. Although, the men here look like they had died and come back", he said.
"Well, being beyond the wall doesn't sound like an experience worth having", I replied back.
"No... I think it's because they haven't had some proper fucking in a while", he replied and I rolled my eyes. Of course he was going to go there.
"Have you seen Audelia?", I asked, changing the subject.
"Mm, you haven't had any proper fucking either, that's probably why you are starting to look like the dead.", he remarked and I send him a warning look. "I saw her in the morning. She's probably with her brother".
"Yeah, you are right. I'm worried for nothing", I replied.
"You two talk yet?", Bronn asked and I nodded.
"She said she loved me too", I replied with my usual charming smile.
"Thank the gods. Now you can stop moping around, half-drunk all the time", remarked Bronn and walked into the cafeteria. I huffed behind him, but joined him a second later.
I saw Audelia was already sitting next to Jon, and Sansa at a table, and she smiled at me, waving me over as she noticed me. I walked over, awkwardly as Jon gave me a death glare and Sansa looked me up and down with a look I didn't really know what it meant.
"Ser Jaime", greeted Sansa.
"Lady Sansa", I replied, trying to make my tone nice.
"It was a surprise to see you here, in the North", she continued and I nodded.
"A lot has changed since we last saw each other", I replied. A squire came over, putting a plate of food in front of me. At least I guessed it was food. It looked.... a little inedible.
"Indeed it has", agreed Sansa.
I looked over at Audelia who was looking at me apologetically. I understood why. Her siblings were like her father, they disliked me. I didn't blame them. I disliked me too.
I pushed their little brother out of the window. Crippling him for life.
I looked at the food in front of me, stabbing what looked like a leg of something I wasn't sure of and sniffing it, and taking a small bite of it.
I tried not to throw up in my mouth. This was horrible.
It tasted like it was dead for months before they cooked it. Which it probably was. Not a lot of things that can be hunted lived around here.
I looked up when I heard footsteps getting closer. And I had to do a double-take. Lady Brienne and the squire I send with her, Podrick Payne.
"Lady Brienne, long time no see", I greeted and she raised an eyebrow at me, telling me how unimpressed she was.
"Ser Jaime. I heard you arrived", she replied back, sitting down on the opposite end of the table, and taking a plate of her own. Podrick sat down across from me and Audelia, taking a plate as well.
All conversation died down after that interaction. It was awkward. Everybody was sending glances at somebody else. Except Jon and Audelia who seemed to be talking without actually make a sound with their eyes from time to time.
"Sorry about the food, my Lady. It's not what we are known for", said a nights watcher to Audelia and she smiled. Gods that sweet smile.
"That's alright. There are more important things", she replied.
I wasn't even sure why he was eating with us. I thought that it would be best to be discreet about who was here. Audelia was on the run from Ramsay, what if one of the Night's Watchers betrayed Jon and gives her away. She was not going to get hurt again. I could understand why Brienne and Podrick were here, and Jon and Sansa and Bronn. But why was this orange haired guy and the other one here?
A squire came in, not bowing or saying a word but he walked over to Jon and extended a letter in his hand.
"A letter for you, Lord Commander", announced the squire.
"I'm not Lord Commander anymore", replied Jon but the squire didn't go anywhere. Jon took the letter out of his hands and send the Night's Watcher away.
Jon looked at the sealing and his face changed. It somehow became darker. He opened the letter carefully and began reading it.
"To the traitor ambassador, Jon Snow. You allowed thousands of Wildlings past the wall. You have betrayed your own kind. You've betrayed the North. Winterfell is mine, bastards come and see.", he began and I shared a look with Bronn. This was not good. Audelia clutched my hand under the table and I squeezed hers. Silently telling her she has my full support.
"Your brother Rickon is in my dungeon.", continued Jon and the siblings all looked at each other in shock.
Rickon was alive? I thought he was dead, killed by the traitor Theon. But apparently not. Did that mean Bran was alive as well?
"His direwolf skin is on my floor. Come and see. I want my bride back. Send her to me bastard and I will not trouble you or your Wilding lovers. Keep her from me and I will ride North and slaughter every wildling man, women and babe living under your protection. You will watch as I skin them, leaving you-", Jon stopped but he continued reading with his eyes. Audelia was growing more and more agitated. I didn't realize how tightly my hand was attached to hers until she put her other hand on top of the one holding her hand and rubbed it gently.
"Go on", said Audelia softly. Sansa looked wide-eyed as Jon didn't say anything.
"It's more of the same", replied Jon but Audelia snatched the letter from his hands. She opened the letter but Jon send her a warning glance. Before I could stop Audelia from reading it, she began saying it out loud.
"You will watch as my soldiers will take turns raping your sister", she continued and I felt my blood begin to boil. "You will watch as my dogs devour your wild little brother. Then I will spring your eyes from your sockets and let my dogs do the rest. Come and see".
"Ramsay Bolton, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North", she concluded and looked somewhat surprised.
"Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North", seethed Jon as I could tell he was having trouble containing himself.
"His father's dead", said Audelia and sighed. "Ramsay killed him and now he has Rickon".
"We don't know that", I tried to argue and comfort her.
"Yes we do", she replied.
"How many men does he have in his army?", asked the Orange Haired Wildling. I send him a cautious look but he didn't notice it.
"I heard him say 5,000 once when he was talking about Stannis", replied Audelia.
"How many do you have?", asked Jon as he turned to the Wildling leader.
"That can march and fight? 2,000", replied the Wildling and I hanged my head. There was no way we would be able to match them in the fight.
"The rest are children and old people", continued the Wildling.
Everybody remained quite. There was no way Audelia was going back to Ramsay. I would keep her safe. Even if it meant forcefully dragging her away from here. She would hate me, but I had to keep her safe. I couldn't lose her, not again.
"We are the last surviving children of the last true Warden of the North", began Sansa.
"Northern families are loya, they will fight for us if we ask", continued Audelia and I shook my head frantically.
"Audelia, you will get hurt-", I tried to reason.
"A monster has taken our home and our brother. We have to go back to Winterfell and save them both", she replied and she had a fire in her eyes. A fire I had not seen before.
Jon nodded after a moment. He agreed.
Fucks sake
We were going to war.
Again.